


Iced Coffee in Venice

by Librasmile (Tenthsun)



Series: The Knowledge of Water [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Not Epilogue Compliant, One Shot, Romance, Short One Shot, Suggestive Themes, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 09:21:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11506410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenthsun/pseuds/Librasmile
Summary: Severus has a bit of a holiday he never thought he’d live to see. Warning: there are no graphic scenes but sexual scenarios are suggested. If you are under age 18, have a few birthdays and then come back and read. For the grown ups, think of this as Harry Potter with a touch of a slightly more suggestive "A Room With a View"





	Iced Coffee in Venice

**Author's Note:**

> _This isn't a story so much as a vignette that's been stuck in my head for a while. Enjoy (I hope)!_

At long last they've become more comfortable in each other's skin.

She's finally learning to stop blushing from anything but the heat. He's finally learned to feel pleasure instead of guilt and to revel in the sensual satisfaction. It's a new sensation for him. Nothing has ever, EVER come easily for him. He's finally stopped being afraid that she might disappear in a fever dream or fit of female recriminations. He's started to stop feeling old and hollowed out.

In what he can only assume is either an unconscious declaration of his epiphany or the worst cliche ever, he's even reversed his wardrobe. Buttoned down black collars, cuffs and cloak had all disappeared into equally well-tailored white dress shirt, suit jacket, trousers, and waistcoat in various shades of cream, eggshell and ecru; ivory and buff with accents of pin stripe and pale grey.  Even his shoes are lighter. Instead of the razor-sharp brilliance of black, spit-polished dragon hide, his feet are encased in a supple combination of linen-colored leather as light and airy as the classic cream-colored fedora that sits upon his head. He is a study in casual Old-World elegance in soft, afternoon light as the shadows lengthen across the Piazza.

Ironically, it's her clothes that have become darker, although of course not his currently banished forbidding black. A strip of white-dotted midnight blue silk flutters in the breeze as she gently swings one crossed leg back and forth. Her gaze is away from him, idly scanning the near empty Piazza. But her body is angled toward his.

As he sips his coffee - not his usual; this brew is another concoction altogether; creamy and sweet, with hints of vanilla, cinnamon and caramel; and cooled with slivers of shaved ice; a soothing counterpoint to the still stifling afternoon heat - he holds his wife's hand as he stares at the tablecloth. It's linen, like the sheets that tangled and twisted around them as they coupled in their marital bed. The same fabric as the sheet he'd pulled away from the juncture of her thighs as he'd entered her that morning and loved her, raw and deep and all but through the mattress.

After the vicissitudes of his life, the last thing he'd expected was to be married and sipping iced coffee after a day spent sightseeing in Venice. He hadn't even expected to be alive. He found himself intertwining his fingers through hers, his thumb stroking the back of her hand as he pushed her palm flat against the table, unconsciously rubbing it back and forth against the cool linen.

Since their arrival eight days ago, there had not been one night - or day - when they hadn't made love. Their hosts had been gracious enough to abandon them to the servants, the gardens, and their own devices. The afternoon in the pool had been particularly...evocative.

His hand tightened on hers as he lifted his cup. He drained the last dregs with a bemused grimace before he dragged her to her feet. It was time to go.

The coffee had gotten hot again.

**Author's Note:**

> _This is another attempt to write some piece of the EPIC (snerk) Snape romance I have in my head._


End file.
